Pensioners to get Rs. 5,500 increase from September: Siyambalapitiya

Colombo, August 2 (Daily Mirror) - The Government is to increase the pensioners' interim allowance to Rs. 5,500 in September.

In addition to the current allowance of Rs. 2,500 given to all pensioners in the public service, steps have been taken to provide an interim allowance of Rs. 5,500 in addition to Rs. 3,000 from September, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.

According to the instructions of the President, an expert committee headed by U.R. Seneviratne was recently appointed and the allowance is based on the reviews.

Accordingly, this interim allowance will be provided to retired public servants till the revised salary structure is implemented from 2025.

The number of pensioners in the country has reached 700,000. As a result, the government has to bear an additional expense of Rs. 8.4 billion for the interim allowance this year.

Despite the challenges of managing the state budget, steps have been taken to provide this interim allowance as a quick short-term solution by the government considering the current financial difficulties faced by the retired public servants.

Meanwhile, a special meeting was held between Minister Siyambalapitiya and the officials of the Joint National Organization of Public Servant Pensioners this morning.

Moreover, a discussion regarding the removal of the pension disparity and raising the interest rate of senior citizens was also held.